best dry sherry for drinking
“Sack” was a general term with Arabic roots for exported wine but quickly came to be synonymous with sherry. Elegant, refined and complex. Depending on where you are, you may be enjoying a gin and tonic, tomando un vermút ("taking a vermouth"), or sipping the country’s other beloved fortified wine, sherry. 3. Palo cortado is an elegant style of Sherry best enjoyed on its own. For those who like it dry, the Inocente fino valdespino or the Equipo navazos la bota no. Made by the sea in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, manzanilla is the freshest, driest and most irresistible style of sherry, and this is the world’s bestselling example of the style. What is it? Dark, almost black in colour these wines are packed with intense raisin and dried fig flavours. Aromatic zesty orange and lean salty aromas with fresh yeast on the nose. Nevertheless, it tends to retail more premium options rather than everyday classic Solera blends. One sip and you’ll see why, it’s loaded up with fresh Cox’s apples and salted almonds. Riedel produce beautiful wine glasses and this specially designed Sherry glass is no exception. This fine, petite glass holds 190ml liquid, making it a great option for sweet sherries and dessert wines in particular. Lightly chilled (10-14C - remove from the fridge a little while before drinking) and serve with mushroom based dishes. As a result, it’s a quintessentially English sherry with a sweet yet full-bodied character. In this guide, we refer to the various styles and it may be easier to understand after learning some of the basics first! Its bouquet delivers remarkably sweet notes of dried figs and dates with a velvety mouthfeel and long finish. As you’ll learn in our guide to making sherry, Amontillado sherry starts off as a Fino and is then refortified to undergo oxidative ageing like Oloroso. While still fresh off a trip to Peru, head bartender Jess Lambert created this tropical, South American riff on the Sherry Cobbler, fusing dry yet nutty Lustau oloroso sherry with an acidic guava-tea shrub, Cointreau and a hint of aromatic Giffard Banane du Brésil liqueur. Whilst the glass will be slightly thicker than the more premium options, these should happily go into the dishwasher. Unlike regular wine which most people know as red, white, rosé, or sparkling, Sherry has a a myriad of different names, but let’s break it down to its most basic components in that it’s […] The Gonzalez Byass brand is most famous for their Tio Pepe fino, one of the most popular fino Sherries around the world. However, if you’re after a classic PX sherry, Lustau is a solid choice. How long does it keep once opened? Amontillado is an aged fino sherry. FINO & MANZANILLA: These are the lightest styles of Sherry. The chances are that you’ll properly be able to choose between a Fino or Oloroso sherry. Drizly partners with local liquor stores who handle the orders and deliver the alcohol directly to your door. An unctuously sweet dessert wine made from sun-dried Pedro Ximénez grapes. And if you’ve been to an American cocktail bar in the past five years, you may have noticed that sherry is all the rage this side of the pond as well. Deliberate sweetening of the wine also creates different styles. It has a touch of warming alcohol on the finish. Fortified to be slightly higher in alcohol and eventually (after around seven years), naturally oxidised. For instance, we’re normally very fond of Reserve Bar yet the only options on offer were the two Sandeman sherries among its selection or port. They’ll still offer certain flavors and notes to your dishes though. While you may find the odd bottle in most grocery or liquor stores, the options tend to be rather limited. Meanwhile, it delivers distinctive flavours of caramel and candied orange peel thanks to its long ageing. Sweet and tangy on the palate, this has a fresh orange zest and caramel flavour. The flavour is salty, refreshing and citrus-filled with a herby twist. This guide will showcase the top 10 best sherry that you can buy online in the USA: Gonzalez Byass Apóstoles Sherry 30 Years; Sandeman Don Fino Superior Sherry; Gutierrez Colosía Oloroso Sherry; Hartley & Gibson Sherry Fino; Savory & James Amontillado Sherry; Osborne Sibarita Oloroso Sherry; Williams & Humbert Dry Sack Fino Sherry This release from one of the newest sherry brands is a crisp, light and refreshing introduction to the fino category – try it mixed with tonic for a low-ABV drink. This single vineyard manzanilla never fails to impress. It’s the perfect introduction to sherry. Deep brown in colour, this has a savoury nutty aroma with salty notes, raisin and coffee. Fortunately, they’re both excellent sherries but it goes to show the limited understanding of the fortified wine. Deep brown in colour with a wonderful smoky coffee aroma, this is packed with cocoa, raisin, fig and date aromas. A very elegant, tall stemmed sherry glass from well known glassware brand LSA. First thing's first, a white wine glass will work perfectly for serving sherry, particularly the drier styles alongside food. Produced by Pedro Rodriguez e Hijos, Hartley & Gibson’s Fino is a cheap yet cheerful Fino. The lion’s share of sherry produced is actually dry. It is made from a variety of white grapes. Waitrose No.1 rich cream sherry We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Topping this list as the very best Dry Sherry is Lustau Dry Amontillado Los Arcos. Manzanilla sherry Though made in the same way as fino (aged under flor) and very similar in taste, manzanilla is only produced in the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda (whereas fino is produced further inland). Have we mentioned that we LOVE sherry wine?! Deep black treacle-brown in colour, this sweet sherry has an intense raisin and dried prune aroma with a touch of alcohol warmth. Sherry has long been a popular cooking ingredient, but it only lasts a few days after a bottle is opened. Make sure to serve the drink over crushed ice for maximum effect, and if you want it to be less sweet and more Martini-esque, opt for dry curaçao over triple sec. One for the sweet-toothed! Cooking sherry is usually made with a cheaper wine than drinking sherry, which is why some can taste quite acidic. Yellow-golden-brown in colour, these wines are dry with intense roasted nut and dried fruit flavours. Fino is a light-coloured, dry wine with flavours of citrus, yeasty sourdough bread and salted almonds which develop as it matures over seven or so years in a series of oak barrels. Palo Cortado is a very rare style of sherry that occurs when a fine wine, destined to become a fino, becomes naturally oxidised. Cream sherry however is an Oloroso sweetened with Pedro Ximénez, these wines are sweet, nutty and touched with notes of caramel, they are richer in style than a Pale cream. Make the most of your time at home and enjoy Good Housekeeping delivered directly to your door every month! Many Olorosos are sweetened slightly with a small amount of Pedro Ximénez. Armada is a classic cream blend produced by blending oloroso sherry and Pedro Ximénez. Its 5-year oxidative ageing period produces a dark caramel and almost mahogany-coloured colour. Since dry sherry has a tendency to be quite briny in flavour, consider skipping the salt when cooking with it. If you want to try a cream to get a feel for what it tastes like, Armada is a great option. Well chilled like a white wine (7-9C), as an aperitif with assorted tapas , particularly olives, nuts, cured meats, prawns and hard, salty cheeses. This sticky sweet wine has an intense prune and dried fig aroma. Among dry Sherries, these are the main styles: Fino: Pale, straw-colored […] Dry Sherry, Dry Vermouth, Maraschino Liqueur, Orange Bitters Crazy Finn (Cocktail) Cointreau, Dry Sherry, Finlandia Vodka, Lemon Juice East India Cocktail #3 (Cocktail) Bitters, Dry Sherry, Dry Vermouth English Bolo (Cocktail) Cinnamon Stick, Dry Sherry, Lemon Juice, Sugar Greenbriar (Cocktail) Bitters, Dry Sherry, Dry Vermouth Ma Wee Hen (Cocktail) Del Duque 30 Year Old Amontillado Muy Viejo. However, some producers will recreate the phenomenon intentionally. A few days in the fridge, with a cork or vacuvin stopper much like a standard white wine. Known as Fino Pando in other countries, it has a balanced bouquet of sweet pear and green almonds. Enter sherry, an idiosyncratic Spanish wine whose tradition spans 3,000 years. Amontillado is an aged fino sherry. Unless you live in the United Kingdom or southern Spain, sherry is surprisingly elusive! Expect intense flavours of walnut, treacle, and dried figs. Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. The flavour is crisp and refreshing, packed with baked lemon and a salty tang yet with a really buttery, vanilla richness. The flavour is sweet and sticky with raisined fruit and a soft acidity to balance the sweetness. Now that you have read about the best sherry brands, why don’t you check out more of our resources? The flavour has more of the same dried fruit characteristics with a nicely balanced acidity that underlies the treacle sweetness. However, you will be hard pressed to easily find such an excellent example of VORS-aged sherry. With light dry sherries to enjoy as an aperitif to fuller bodied dry styles, which work well with meaty mains, to the indulgently sweet for dessert – sherry has it all. Styles of Dry Sherry Wine. It tastes dry and salty with a tangy yet well balanced acidity and a touch of warmth on the finish. Both should be well chilled (7-9C) and served with fruit such as pears and sweet apples, lighter terrines and pâtés. The flavour is tangy and refreshing with a citrus flavour accompanied by a deeper roasted nut note. The palate is sweet with just a touch of acidity, viscous rich and packed with raisined fruit and a slightly metallic note to the finish. In need of some positivity? Personally, as a diehard sherry lover, this is my preferred serving method as you can fit more than 100ml. One of the oldest Bodegas in Jerez, Valdespino is the fruit of several generations of experience. Rich and indulgent smelling, this PX has a touch of spice on the nose accompanying the sweet raisin and fig aromas. Learn how your comment data is processed. Pale cream is generally pale gold in colour with a hint of nuts and yeasty notes, whilst also being sweet and grapey. Therefore, it’s also quite expensive. This has a very subtle aroma of salty caramel and a slight toasted hazelnut note. Best Sherry to Try Today The Tio Pepe Palomino Fino is the gold standard for fino sherries. Room temperature or lightly chilled (around 14C), drizzled over vanilla ice cream or alongside dried fruit-based desserts such as Christmas pudding or mince pies. There is something waxy about the finish but an all round elegant and well balanced sherry. Finally, Drizly is probably one of your best bets. The aroma on this golden brown sherry is zesty and fresh with orange peel and smoked nuts. These wines are packed with savoury, umami, nutty aromas and flavours. What is it? Fresh young cheese tends to fare better with Fino sherry whereas more mature and strong cheese marries well with Oloroso. Given the age of the Solera, it’s a very rare and quite prestigious option. Nevertheless, the alcohol bloom is surprisingly subtle. Indeed, there are many fine sherries that you can buy from a selection of brands. This light, elegant sherry has soft lemon and fresh yeast aromas. People needn’t be scared of sherry; just treat it like great wines that should be enjoyed with the right foods. Oloroso Is the Richest and Most Complex of the Dry Sherries Oloroso sherry is aged the longest of all the dry sherries, but rather than being aged under its flor, it is aged primarily in casks to concentrate the flavour. Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez grape varieties are also used, particularly for fuller, sweeter styles of sherry. Tall, elegant and with a generous 260ml capacity this is the perfect addition to a sherry-lover's glass collection. Today, sherry and tapas is the height of cool, so if you’re keen to get tasting, but unsure where to start, read on... Our wine and spirits expert, Alex Hale shares her top recommendations (from a tasting of 30 sherries), gives the low down on the styles available, when to drink them and most importantly, how long they keep once opened (we all have a Grandparent who nursed a bottle of cream sherry in the drinks cabinet for decades, but were they right?). How long does it keep once opened? A small white wine glass works well for serving drier styles of sherry, particularly if you like a slightly larger serving to accompany food. At 17% ABV, it’s quite strong compared to most Fino sherries. Whilst not overly sherry-like, it has a low ABV of 5%, making it a superb summer tipple. Order your bottle of Solera Jerezana Dry Amontillado Lustau Sherry » A traditional dry oloroso that has been aged until it achieves a rich, full, tangy flavour. This superb example of a Manzanilla is packed with flavour, yet balanced and elegant. Nevertheless, consider pairing sherry with your meal to explore a new sensory experience! The palate is tangy and well-balanced with a soft citrus and baking bread flavour. T here is no drink on earth that suits early autumn as well as sherry. However, it’s also a great way of using up any that has been open for slightly too long. Spending an average of 12 years in the Solera under oxidative ageing, the San Emilio blend has an almost black, ebony hue. Its styles ranges from bone dry to aromatic and nutty, all the way to sticky and sweet, and its versatility in food-matching is unrivalled. It is full bodied with a rich marmite, salty roasted nut and a zesty orange flavour. We're discovering Spanish sherry isn't just for dessert. Beside above, what is a good substitute for dry sherry? Although the Denominacion de Origen of Jerez suggests that you drink sherry each style at a particular temperature (as exemplified below), this should not be the deal breaker. Despite its premium name, it’s quite affordable and presents itself as an excellent sherry to try if you want to experience a classic Fino for the first time. After over 30 years of ageing, the wine has earned a VORS classification, which results in concentrated dried fruits such as fig and prunes. It’s usually better to cook with cheaper sherry since you won’t necessarily benefit much from using a premium wine. These age, for as few as two or as many as ten years, under a layer of flor and when bottled are meant to be consumed right away. Although best known for producing port wine in Portugal, Sandeman also makes noteworthy sherry in Spain. Typically fresh and saline on the nose with notes of apple peel and almond. Like Hartley & Gibson, it’s an affordable option and presents itself as a great way to cheaply sample a classic Amontillado sherry. If you’re new to this wine, we recommend that you read our guide on the different types of sherry before you continue. The only downside with Drizly is that its results vary depending on where you live. Indeed, it’s a blend of sweet Pedro Ximénez and dry Palomino grapes, which are aged separately and then together for an additional 18 years. Palomino grapes make dry sherry, like fino, while Pedro Ximenez and Muscat grapes make sweet wines, like cream sherry. John Lewis Michelangelo White Wine Glass, Clear, 235ml, Set of 4, Chef & Sommelier Cabernet Port or Sherry Glasses 120ml (Pack of 6), LSA International Bar Collection Sherry Glasses, Set of 4, Where to buy the tastiest vegan chocolate, The best tequila reposado for every budget, Where to buy the best ready-made roast potatoes, Good Housekeeping, Part of the Hearst UK Fashion & Beauty Network. Dry white and red wines fall into the category of regular drinking wines. ". Fino and manzanilla are best served very cold, around 8 °C (46 °F). Conversely, desserts or starters prepared with sweet sherry won’t need as much sugar if any at all. Sherry is a versatile drink that can offer something to please all tastes. This is sticky toffee pudding in a glass, unlike the nose this is sticky and sweet, with balanced, refreshing acidity. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Our wine expert explains the different types of sherry and how to drink them. Not any sherry, mind. Likewise, Amontillado is a good compromise for a diverse cheese platter. A few months in a stable, cool environment, with a cork in or vacuvin stopper. Recommendation: Bodegas César Florido’s Peña del Aguila Chipiona (De Maison Selections; $65/375 ml). This has a wonderfully rich, buttery brioche and toasted nut aroma . How long does it keep once opened? They are delicious with olives, Marcona almonds, and cured meats. When to drink it? Amontillado sherry can be the most complex and lingering style of Sherry available. Manzanilla is the lightest style of sherry, and it must be matured in the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Decide whether you want a mild cooking sherry such as Reese's Sherry Cooking Wine , a nutty one like Holland House 's, or a rich and complex sherry vinegar such as Columela's 30 Year Aged Sherry . Also contrary to popular belief, most sherry is made from a young palomino white wine base. Finally, sweet sherry tends to be best kept for accompanying dessert … A superbly elegant aroma fills the nose with this sherry. Up to a year or more in a stable, cool environment, with a cork in or vacuvin stopper. Therefore, it’ll give you a good idea of what is available locally but people in isolated areas may not get many results. It’s then fortified to 15 or 17% alcohol. New styles of Sherry wines occur when the natural course of aging changes the character of a Sherry so that its taste no longer conforms to one of the two main categories (fino and oloroso). This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. However, if you prefer a daintier serving of sherry, particularly when serving sweeter styles, a more traditional 'copita' - miniature wine glass, is what you're looking for. Sherry, a wine fortified with brandy, can be made dry or very sweet, with flavors that range from nutty and figlike to citrusy or melon-y. Palo Cortado sherry used to be an accidental result of the wine’s flor dying earlier than expected. What is it? With many different types of sherry, choosing the right one for the occasion can be difficult. Cooking sherry. Made with dry sherry, peach brandy and triple sec, this fruit-forward aperitif makes for a delightful pre-dinner sipper. The most recent addition to the sherry family, Pale Cream is a fino sherry sweetened with concentrated grape juice. An exceptional sherry, Sibarita is produced using a Solera of 106 butts that has been active since 1792! Savory & James sourced this sherry from Bodegas Valderrama, which is distributed throughout the USA. Lightly chilled (10-14C) as per Amontillado, alongside fuller flavoured mains such as game casseroles, cheeses and pâtés. Expect a yeasty finish with a fresh and crisp texture. Fortified to be slightly higher in alcohol and eventually (after around seven years), naturally oxidised. Dry Red & White Wines Perfect for using with beef stews, cream soups, mussels, clams and wine-based sauces. Otherwise, Wine.com has a better selection and you should be able to choose between half a dozen different sherries. Well balanced alcohol and a sweet yet refreshing finish. Therefore, it yields exceptionally old wine that has earned the VORS classification. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Best Sherry For Drinking & Where To Buy Sherry, "An affordable option for sampling a well-aged VORS sherry so you experience the wine's full ageing potential. Gently toasted hazelnut, fresh yeasty and salty seaside aroma are followed by more of the same on the palate. Sherry makes the ultimate wine accompaniment to almost any meal. The result is a combination of yeasty and nutty flavours.